Clasp.



' NrTnD STATES PATENT FFICE.

ALFRED H. PEATS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 679,542, dated July 30, 1901.

Application filed April 22, 1901.

T0 a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, ALFRED H. PEATS, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clasps, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to clasps for belts; and one object is to construct a clasp which shall be adapted to support the belt in position and at the same time clamp and hold the clothing of the wearer without injury to the clothing'.

A further object is to make the clasp extremely simple in construction, in order that it may be readily and economically manufactured and shall at the same time be sightly in appearance and strong and eflicie ut in its operation.

The invention will be more particularly described hereinafter with reference to the form shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is aside sectional view of a clasp, showing the same applied to clamp the trousers and drawers and hold the belt in position and Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view with parts broken away, showing the belt in position and two clasps, one with parts shown in dotted lines and the other as it appears from the front.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the clasp is shown as comprising a single flat strip of metal or other suitable material of sufficient stiness and at the saine time of sufficient resiliency. This strip is formed to provide the inner 'tongue l, the outer loop 2, and the tongue 3. The tongue 3 and the inner tongue l may be made parallel to each other, as shown in the drawings, or the tongue l may be made to impinge upon or engage the tongue 3 in any suitable manner to form a spring-clip of sufficient strength to grip and hold clothing inserted between the two tongues. I prefer the construction in which the tongues are parallel, as shown, in order to increase the gripping-surface and reduce the liability of tearing the clothes to a minimum. The gripping effect may be increased by forming the corrugations 4 in the tongue 1 and the corresponding corru- Serial No. 56,805. (No model.)

gations 5 in the tongue 3, the latter corrugations being adapted to be engaged by the former and thus tend to more tightlygrip the clothes and prevent sliding movement of the tongues with respect t0 each other. The tongue 3 is provided with a projecting end 6, which is advanced a suitable distance beyond the lower end of the loopfZ in order to facilitate the attachment of the clasp to the garment. In the drawings the beltis represented by 7 and the trousers and drawers of the wearer by 8 and 9, respectively.

In using the clasp the trousers and drawers are held together with one hand, while with the other the clasp :is pushed down over the two, the tongues l and 3 straddling the clothes.

The belt is then placed in position inthe loop 2. If preferred, the belt may first be run through the loops of the clasps and the clasps then clamped upon the garment.

It will be noted that by reason of the substantially parallel location of the tongues the clothes are clamped along substantially the entire length of the clasp, and therefore the liability of tearing the clothes is reduced to a minimum, and also that the clasp being made of but one piece the cost of manufacture of the device is reduced and its strength is increased.

It will be seen that the device above described may be modified in various respects without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I therefore desire it to be understood that l do not limit myself herein to the specific construction shown.

Having thus described myinvention, I declare that what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A clasp comprisinga single iiat strip having the supporting-loop and the two tongues, said tongues lying parallel substantially the length of the loop and together forming a spring-clip adapted to engage and clamp the clothes of the wearer uniformly along the entire length of said loop, and corrugations formed in said'tongues, the corrugations of the respective tongues being adapted to engage each other for the purpose set forth.

2. A clasp comprising a single fiat strip bent to form the supporting-loop and the two tongues, said tongues lying parallel to each other substantially the length of the loop and IOO forming a spring-clip adapted to clamp the clothes, uniformly along the entire length of said loop and a projecting end upon one of the said tongues advancing beyond the lower end of the loop, substantially as described.

3. A clasp comprising a single flat strip bent to form the inner and outer parallel tongues and the su pporting-loop, said tongues forming a spring-clip adapted to engage the clothes and oneof said tongues projecting beyond the lower end of the loop, and corrugations formed in said tongues, the corrugations of the respective tongues being adapted to engage each other for the purpose set forth. 4. A clasp comprising a single flat strip bent to form the inner and the outer tongues and the supporting-loop, said tongues lying parallel to each other substantially the length of the loopV and each having corrugations formed therein, the corrugations of the respective tongues being adapted to engage each other, and the end of the outer tongue projecting beyond the lower end of the supporting-loop, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature 25 in presence of two Witnesses.

ALFRED H. PEATS. Witnesses:

WALTER S. WINTERSMITH, JOSEPH G. MARINER. 

